COLORADO SPRINGS, C.O.- USA Field Hockey ispleased to announce its first annual National Club Championship to be held in Richmond, Virginia, July 21-24, 2011. The Championship will take place at Sportsquest, a 250 acre campus located in Chesterfield County. SportsQuest hosts events for recreational enjoyment, youth development, and high performance athletes in 20 Olympic amateur sports. The National Club Championship will feature the top Clubs from across the United States as they vie for honors and bragging rights as the nation’s top Club field hockey team.

Registration will open on February 1, 2011 and will close on March 1, 2011. During this inaugural year, registration will be based on a first come, first serve basis. Sixteen under-19 girls teams and sixteen under-17 girls teams will be selected into the Championship based on the time of their registration received. Each club is allowed only one team per age group. All Clubs and team members must be a member of USA Field Hockey in order to compete in this event.

USA Field Hockey is affiliated with nearly 250 Clubs in the country. The National Club Championship is an ideal opportunity for clubs to compete against each other at a highly competitive event.

“Our efforts within the National Office are to put into place a set of tools to help grow the game of field hockey at the regional level. The creation of a club national championship gives clubs a major reason for being. To strive for and win a national championship will carry much prestige for a club. The creation of a club championship helps in recruiting by growing interest in local areas through qualifiers as well as helps our elite national programs by having more athletes available to eventually rise to the top,” said Steve Locke, Executive Director.

In future years, there will be regional qualifiers for Club teams to advance to the Championship. Regional qualifiers will identify the best Club teams in the country to compete at the National Championship for title of the number one Club field hockey team in the United States.

“It is imperative for the development of our sport that we host a National Club Championship and I am delighted to see we will be doing so in 2011. A National Club Championship will inevitably create a higher level of competition amongst club teams and will provide further training, outside of the school setting, for young athletes to advance their game,” said Terry Walsh, Technical Director.

More information regarding the registration process for the National Club Championships will be posted on our website in early January 2011.

For inquiries regarding the National Club Championship, please contact Karen Collins, USA Field Hockey Director of Event Logistics, at kcollins@usafieldhockey.com, or at (719) 866-4366. Additional information regarding USA Field Hockey can be found online by visiting www.usafieldhockey.com.